Urs Stäheli: Spectacular Speculation: Thrills, the Economy, and Popular Discourse (2007/2013)
Filed under book | Tags: · economics, economy, finance, market, market economy, psychology, sociology, speculation
Spectacular Speculation is a history and sociological analysis of the semantics of speculation from 1870 to 1930, when speculation began to assume enormous importance in popular culture. Informed by the work of Luhmann, Foucault, Simmel and Deleuze, it looks at how speculation was translated into popular knowledge and charts the discursive struggles of making speculation a legitimate economic practice. Noting that the vocabulary available to discuss the concept was not properly economic, the book reveals the underside of putting it into words. Speculation’s success depended upon non-economic language and morally questionable thrills: a proximity to the wasteful practice of gambling or other “degenerate” behaviors, the experience of financial markets as seductive, or out of control. American discourses of speculation take center stage, and the book covers an unusual range of material, including stock exchange guidebooks, ticker tape, moral treatises, plays, advertisements, and newspapers.
Originally published in German as Spektakuläre Spekulation: Das Populäre der Ökonomie, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2007
Translated by Eric Savoth
Publisher Stanford University Press, 2013
ISBN 0804788251, 9780804788250
312 pages
Jens Beckert, Patrik Aspers (eds.): The Worth of Goods: Valuation and Pricing in the Economy (2011)
Filed under book | Tags: · art, economy, fashion, finance, market, sociology, value
How do we place value on goods – and, importantly, why? Valuation and pricing are core issues in the market economy, but understanding of these concepts and their interrelation is weak. In response, The Worth of Goods takes a sociological approach to the perennial but timely question of what makes a product valuable.
Structured in three parts, it first examines value in the broader sense – moral values and how they are formed, and the relations between economic and non-economic values – discussing such matters as the value of an oil spill, the price of a scientific paper, value in ethical consumption, and imaginative value. The second part discusses the issues surrounding valuation in aesthetic markets, specifically wine, fashion models, art, and the creative industries. The third part analyzes valuation in financial markets – credit rating agencies, stock exchange markets, and industrial production.
This pioneering volume brings together leading social scientists to provide a range of theoretical tools and case studies for understanding price and the creation of value in markets within social and cultural contexts and preconditions. It is an important source for scholars in economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science interested in how markets work, and how value is established.
– Interdisciplinary contributions from sociology, economics, political science, and marketing
– Presents empirical studies of both financial and some unusual markets – wine, art, fashion
– Pioneering work at intersection of sociology, economics, and marketing
– Chapters by leading international scholars in economic sociology
– Revisits both established theories of value and current thinking
Publisher Oxford University Press, 2011
ISBN 0199594643, 9780199594641
346 pages
Nordics in Global Crisis: Vulnerability and Resilience (2010)
Filed under report | Tags: · banking, economy, finance, financial crisis, nordics, scandinavia
The world is experiencing its worst slump since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The Nordic countries have, with the exception of Norway, been hit harder than most. Due to its sharpness and depth, the crisis is opening up or reviving a broad agenda of important policy issues. This report raises a number of the issues and discusses the scope for economic policies to contribute to the resolution of key economic problems.
The report can be seen as a sequel and as complementary to an earlier report on the Nordic Model, presented two years earlier by a team including three of the authors of the present report. While the earlier report was focused on structural issues, the one at hand is about macroeconomic and financial issues.
The members of the team are eminent economists and authoritative experts on the issues covered. The report is a joint product, reflecting
Authors Thorvaldur Gylfason, Bengt Holmström, Sixten Korkman, Hans Tson Söderström, Vesa Vihriälä
Publisher Taloustieto Oy, Helsinki, 2010
Volume 242 of ETLA – The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy. Series B
ISBN 9516284957, 9789516284951
264 pages